SUPERINTENDENT  OF  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 
STATE  OF  CALIFORNIA 


BULLETIN  No.   1-B 


487 

HNtA 


The  Organization  of  Junior 
High  Schools 


FEBRUARY,  1922 


CALIFORNIA    STATE    PRINTING    OFFICE. 
SACKAMKNTO.    1922 


PREFACE. 

The  junior  high  school  is  coming  to  be  accepted  as  the  solution  of 
the  problem  of  making  the  work  of  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades  more 
vital  and  worth  while.  It  also  helps  to  solve  the  problem  of  articulating 
the  work  of  the  elementary  and  high  schools.  The  movement  to  estab- 
lish junior  high  schools  in  California  was  started  in  1908  and  has  been 
gaining  ground  steadily.  In  1915,  a  law  recognizing  the  intermediate 
school  course  and  providing  for  the  establishment  of  such  course 
was  passed.  In  1921,  a  new  law  changed  the  name  of  the  intermediate 
course  to  junior  high  school,  which  it  defined  to  be  an  organization  of 
the  seventh,  eighth  and  ninth  grades  or  of  the  seventh,  eighth,  ninth  and 
tenth  grades.  However,  many  legal  administrative  questions  concern- 
ing the  organization  of  the  junior  high  school  have  been  asked.  It  is 
in  order  to  meet  these  questions  and  to  encourage  the  organization  of 
junior  high  schools  that  this  bulletin  has  been  prepared. 


Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 


JUNIOR  HIGH   SCHOOLS. 

What  is  a  Junior  High  School? 

Tin-  term  "junior  high  school"  is  defined  in  California  as  a  school 
embracing  the  seventh,  eighth  and  ninth  grades,  or  the  seventh,  eighth, 
ninth  and  tenth  grades,  organized  under  the  high  school  board  in  accord- 
ance with  the  provisions  of  law. 

Course  of  Study. 

"The  course  of  study  for  each  high  school  shall  be  prepared  under 
the  direction  of  the  high  school  board  having  control  thereof,  and  shall 
In-  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  state  board  of  education.  *  *  * ;  the 
course  for  junior  high  schools  (shall  be  designed)  to  fit  the  needs  of 
pupils  of  the  seventh,  eighth  and  ninth,  or  of  the  seventh,  eighth, 
ninth  and  tenth  grades;  *  *  *."  (Section  1750  of  the  Political  Code.) 

Field  of  the  Junior  High  School. 

The  functions  of  the  junior  high  school  are  set  forth  briefly  in  the 
Report  of  the  National  Commission  on  the  Reorganization  of  Secondary 
Education  as  follows: 

"In  the  junior  period,  emphasis  should  be  placed  upon  the  attempt 
to  help  the  pupil  explore  his  own  aptitudes  and  to  make  at  least 
provisional  choice  of  the  kinds  of  work  to  which  he  will  devote  himself. 
In  the  senior  high  school,  emphasis  should  be  given  to  training  in  the 
fields  thus  chosen.  This  distinction  lies  at  the  basis  of  the  organization 
of  junior  and  senior  high  schools. 

"In  the  junior  high  school  (intermediate  school),  there  should  be 
the  gradual  introduction  of  departmental  instruction,  some  choice  of 
subjects  under  guidance,  promotion  by  subjects,  prevocational  courses 
and  a  social  organization  that  calls  forth  initiative  and  develops  the 
sense  of  personal  responsibility  for  the  welfare  of  the  group." 

The  California  law  permits  of  the  organization  of  junior  high  schools 
that  will  realize  the  aims  so  ably  set  forth  in  the  report  quoted  above. 

How  established  in  City  High  School  Districts. 

A  junior  high  school  may  be  established  in  any  city  or  district  high 
school  by  the  adoption  of  a  resolution  substantially  as  follows: 

"lie  it  resolved,  by  the  high  school  board  of high 

school  district,  that  a  junior  high  school  embracing  the  seventh,  eighth 
and  ninth  years  (or  the  seventh,  eighth,  ninth  and  tenth  years)  be  and 
the  same  is  hereby  established  in  this  hiirh  school  district ;  that  from  and 

after 192__.  all  pupils  who  have  completed  the  sixth 

grade  of  the  elementary  school  shall  be  admitted  to  such  junior  high 
school ;  and  that  the  course  of  study  for  said  junior  high  school  shall  be 
as  follows: 

(Insert  couise  of  study.) 


How  Established  in  Union  High  School  Districts. 

The  junior  high  school  may  be  established  by  the  high  school  board 
of  a  union  high  school  district  "in  either' of  the  following  ways : 

(1)   By  action  of  trustees. 

Any  elector  of  the  union  high  school  district  may  circulate  a  state- 
ment or  declaration  among  the  trustees  of  the  elementary  schools  of 
the  union  high  school  district  substantially  as  follows: 

To  the  high  school  board  of union  high  school  district: 

We,  the  undersigned  trustees  of  the  elementary  school  districts  com- 
prising the union  high  school  district,  hereby  signify  our 

approval  of  the  organization  by  your  honorable  board,  of  a  junior 
high  school  to  which  pupils  who  have  completed  the  sixth  grade  of  the 
elementary  school  shall  be  admitted. 

Signed : 

Trustees  of  _         _  district.  Trustees  of district. 


Trustees  of district,  Trustees  of  _       __  district. 

State  of  California,  ) 

>     ss. 

County  of , ) 

I  do  solemnly  swear  that  I  am  a  qualified  elector  of union 

high  school  district,  and  that  the  above  statement  or  declaration  of 
approval  was  presented  by  me  to  the  trustees  whose  names  appear 
thereon  and  that  the  signatures  to  said  statement  or  declaration  are 
genuine. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  before  me, 
at ,  this day  of ,  19 


If  a  majority  of  the  board  of  trustees  in  a  majority  of  the  elementary 
school  districts  shall  sign  the  statement  or  declaration,  a  junior  high 
school  or  schools  may  be  established  by  "the  high  school  board,  upon 
the  filing  of  such  statement  or  declaration  with  the  clerk  of  the  high 
school  board.  The  same  resolution  suggested  above  for  the  establish- 
ment of  the  junior  high  school  by  a  city  high  school  board  should  be 
adopted,  but  the  following  preamble  should  immediately  precede  such 
resolution : 

"Whereas,  a  majority  of  the  boards  of  trustees  of  the  elementary 

school  districts  comprising union  high  school  district  have 

approved  the  organization  of  a  junior  high  school  in  this  union  high 
school  district  as  provided  by  law;  therefore,  be  it, 

Resolved,  etc." 


(2)  By  election. 

An  •  •Ic.-tinn  in  the  high  school  district  may  be  called  upon  petition 
of  ;i  majority  of  the  heads  of  families  or  a  majority  of  the  electors 
residing  in  each  of  the  elementary  school  districts  comprising  the 
union  high  school  district  asking  for  the  organization  of  a  junior  high 
school.  The  petition  should  be  addressed  to  the  county  superintendent 
of  schools,  who,  if  he  finds  the  names  sufficient,  shall  within  twenty 
days  after  receiving  the  petition  call  an  election  in  the  high  school 
(list  rid  for  the  determination  of  the  question.  The  ballots  used  at 
such  election  shall  contain  the  words  "Junior  high  school — Yes"  and 
"Junior  high  school — No."  If  a  majority  of  the  electors  voting  at  the 
election  shall  vote  in  favor  of  the  junior  high  school,  the  county  superin- 
tendent shall  certify  the  fact  to  the  high  school  board,  which  shall  there- 
upon proceed  to  establish  such  school. 

The  same  resolution  suggested  above  for  the  establishment  of  a 
junior  high  school  by  a  city  high  school  board  should  be  adopted,  but 
the  following  preamble  should  immediately  precede  such  resolution: 

"Whereas,  the  county  superintendent  of  schools  of county 

has  certified  to  this  board  that  at  an  election  held  in union 

high  school  district  on  the day  of 192 ,  a  -majority  of 

the  qualified  electors  voting  thereat,  voted  in  favor  of  the  organization 
of  a  junior  high  school  in  said  high  school  district;  therefore,  be  it, 

Resolved,  etc." 

Attendance  in  the  Junior  High  School. 

The  attendance  of  pupils  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  years  (the  first 
two  years  of  the  junior  high  school)  can  not  be  counted  as  a  part  of 
the  high  school  attendance.  Such  attendance  "shall  be  kept  separate 
and  shall  be  credited  to  the  elementary  school  district  in  which  said 
pupils  reside."  The  junior  high  school  principal  in  a  union  high  school 
district  should  append  to  his  annual  report  to  the  county  superintendent 
of  schools,  a  statement  of  the  average  daily  attendance  to  be  credited  to 
each  elementary  school  district  comprising  the  union. 

Any  elementary  school  district  in  a  union  high  school  district  main- 
taining a  junior  high  school  may  abandon  its  seventh  and  eighth  grades, 
but  can  not  be  compelled  to  do  so. 

Financing  the  Junior  High  School. 

Section  1617  of  the  Political  Code  provides  that  an  elementary 
school  board  shall  pay  the  high  school  board  maintaining  a  junior  high 
school,  for  the  education  of  its  seventh  and  eighth  grade  pupils,  "a 
tuition  charge  which  shall  be  agreed  upon  by  the  board  of  trustees  and 
the  high  school  board."  The  tuition  charge  may  range  from  nothing 
to  "the  average  net  cost  per  pupil  for  educating  pupils  in  the  first 
six  grades  of  the  elementary  school  district  wherein  they  reside."  It 
depends  on  the  agreement. 

In  most  high  school  districts  maintaining  junior  high  schools, 
most,  and  sometimes  all,  of  the  expense  of  the  junior  high  school  is 
borne  by  the  high  school  board.  The  law  provides  that  the  high  school 
board  may  include  in  the  high  school  budget  the  estimated  expenses 


—  6  — 

for  maintaining  the  junior  high  school  and  a  tax  may  be  levied  on  the 
high  school  district  sufficient  to  raise  the  expenses  of  both  the  high 
and  junior  high  schools.  (Section  1750.) 

Junior  High  School  Teachers. 

The  organization  of  the  junior  high  school  need  not  result  in  the 
dismissal  of  the  elementary  school  teachers  now  teaching  in  the  seventh 
and  eighth  grades.  As  a  matter  of  fact  they  are  as  a  rule  the  best 
teachers  that  can  be  found  for  these  grades,  whether  under  the  elemen- 
tary or  junior  high  school  organization. 

The  holder  of  an  elementary  school  certificate  or  life  diploma  may 
teach  in  the  first  two  years  (seventh  and  eighth  grades),  of  any  junior 
high  school.  (See  section  1771  of  the  Political  Code.)  However,  if  the 
holder  of  a  regular  elementary  school  certificate  wishes  to  teach  in  the 
third  year  of  the  junior  high  school  (ninth  year),  she  must  obtain 
a  junior  high  school  certificate.  Regulations  governing  the  issuance  of 
the  junior  high  school  credential  may  be  obtained  upon  application  to 
the  State  Board  of  Education.  j(See  Bulletin  10- J.  H.)  The  holder 
of  a  special  elementary  credential  in  music,  drawing,  manual  training, 
home  economics,  etc.,  may  teach  the  subjects  named  in  her  certificate 
in  the  seventh,  eighth  and  ninth  years  of  the  junior  high  school  without 
the  general  junior  high  school  certificate.  The  holder  of  a  regular  high 
school  certificate  may  teach  any  subject  in  any  year  of  the  junior  high 
school.  The  holder  of  a  special  high  school  certificate  may  teach  the 
subjects  named  in  her  certificate  in  any  year  of  the  junior  high  school 
without  the  general  junior  high  school  certificate. 

In  the  future  the  general  high  school  credential  and  general  junior 
high  school  credential  will  name  the  subjects  in  which  the  holder  has 
made  special  preparation  for  teaching.  This  does  not  imply  that  the 
credential  is  limited  to  the  subjects  named  but  is  merely  for  the  purpose 
of  notifying  supervisory  officers  of  the  specialties  of  the  holder  of  the 
credential. 


SOUTHERN    BRANCH 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

LIBRARY 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIF. 


18874    6-22    1M 


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A     000015285 


